


Room-mate Requirements

by Carmillatrash



Category: Carmilla - Fandom, Hollstein - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Roommate, lovetriangle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:31:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6504553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmillatrash/pseuds/Carmillatrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura, Kirsch, Perry, Danny and Lafontaine all share a house off campus. With Lafontaine moving out, the other four desperately need to find another roommate. The first, and the only person who comes and see's the room is most certainly not the friendliest Laura could ever hope for. But she was definitely something. And Laura wanted to understand her, but Danny definitely didn't like the curiosity in Laura's eyes. Not at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Room-mate requirements

Laura woke from a loud, incessant shrill coming from the other side of the room. “Ughhhh” Was all she could muster as she slapped her pillow over her head, but the noise wouldn’t go away. She threw her pillow on the floor, and with a defeated grunt, she fell out of bed to turn the alarm off. Rubbing her eyes, Laura stumbled over to the mirror noticing how dishevelled her hair was and that she had fallen asleep with her make up on still. She quickly showered, got changed into some tight jeans and a navy and white baseball shirt and searched for her to do list. It made her almost laugh that she had to search for her to do list, but soon enough she found it. It listed three things:

1) Finish journalism essay   
2) Go to work  
And most importantly, in all caps with swirls around it, to make it seem that more important:  
3) FIND A ROOMATE!

The third she had been putting off. They all had really. They meaning Danny, Perry and Kirsch. Laf was moving out in the next few days and all three of them had been slacking in actively looking for a new roommate. It was mostly because they were all extremely busy with school, their respective jobs and trying to keep some semblance of a social life alive. But it was also partly because, and none of them really wanted to admit it, they were upset. The four of them had become extremely close over the last 6 months at university, and the group were all nervous it would impact their friendship.

Laura decided that because of the way her to do list was set out, that was exactly how she was going to do it. She knew that she was procrastinating, but she decided to put it to the back of her mind, for a little while anyway. If Laura was going to get anything done, she’d need breakfast. She went downstairs to find Danny in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled delicious.

Danny noticed her coming down, and with a quick smile asked “want some?” 

Laura was always surprised at how nice Danny was. She was always giving. Always being helpful if she could. She would never tell her, but she really admired her for it. “You sure?” she said as she sat at the table, which was really a cheap table that they’d all brought online when they’d moved in, that was chipping and actually very sad. “I don’t want to put you out.” 

Danny smiled a familiar smile and waved the spatula in the air, signifying it wasn’t a problem.

After a little while of general chit chat about the day, Perry came down. She had slightly red eyes, Laura almost uttered a word but Danny got to her first, putting an arm around her “what’s up angel?” to which Perry replied “it’s nothing really… no really! I’m just… it’s just…” Perry was cut off with Laf and Kirsch bowling through the Kitchen door, already consumed in conversation.

“I’m totally coming over when you’re moved in! I can’t wait dude!” 

“Of course Kirsch! Whenever you want!”

“Really? Thanks bro.”

The conversation was cut short by Perry bursting out crying, and running upstairs. Laura knew that Laf leaving was hard on her, especially since they were best friends. But she hadn’t spoken about it, and Laura didn’t want to push her but she desperately wished Laf would be more considerate.

“Was that… was that me?” Laf asked innocently, with a slice of toast hanging out of her mouth. Danny looked at her with raised eyebrows as if to say ‘duh’. “Oh shit” Laf sighed, running upstairs after Perry.

Danny handed Laura some French toast with chopped up bananas on the side, and smiled gratefully. Kirsch was invested in a game on his phone, sloppily eating an apple, and Laura knew she had to say something.

“Guys… I think we need to talk.”

“Me too.” Danny agreed, but Kirsch was still playing his game.

Danny threw a slice of banana at him and his head shot up “hey, not cool dude. Now I’ll have to change this shirt.”

“Tragic.” Danny scoffed.

Laura put her French toast down and they both knew she was being serious. Laura was serious about her food, and to put it down, well, that could only mean that they seriously needed to shut up. 

Laura cleared her throat and started “We still need to find a roommate. I know we’ve all been busy, I’ve been working way too much” to which Danny nodded her head in agreement “and Danny, you’ve been studying so hard, I was almost surprised to see you with something in your hand today other than a textbook. And Kirsch, well, you keep yourself busy.”

Kirsch smiles and playfully hits Danny’s arm “doing BRO things.” 

“Yes Kirsch” Laura laughs, “bro things, but we need to find a new roommate. We can’t afford to live here if we don’t, and then we’ll have to go back to campus. And I think we all like living together right?”

Danny nodded vigorously with her mouth full, and Kirsch with his mouth full, said “Hell yeah! I love you guys”

“…So, tomorrow, we’re going to start looking. Word of mouth is good, and so is putting up posters, but we also need to listen out. And hard, yeah?”

They both agreed, with Laura feeling she’d accomplished something, finished off her breakfast and headed back to her room. It was only 9:30, and class didn’t start till 11, she had planned to get her essay done before class, this time. Laura had been slacking that was true. But not because she didn’t care, it wasn’t that at all. She’d just taken on more hours lately, and it had been catching up with her.

As Laura was hacking her way through a painful, painful essay, she heard a knock on the door. She mumbled a “come in” and turned around a couple of seconds later to find a guilty looking Laf in her doorway.

“What’s up Laf?”

She looked uneasy. Unsure how she should word what she should say, and her thoughts obviously churned in her mind uncomfortably. “Am I… doing the wrong thing? Leaving I mean?”

Laura sighed and gestured for Laf to sit on her bed, which she joined. “I don’t think leaving is the wrong thing at all. We know why you’re doing it, we know that this research internship is everything to you. I think we’re just a little sad about it. Some more than others.”

Laf seemed to understand, and nodded her head. Wrapped up in her thoughts for a minute, she mulled over a thought. “The ‘some’ meaning Perry right?”

Laura bumped shoulders with Laf, “Obviously.” 

“She’s my best friend. Of course I’m sad I’m leaving you all and leaving her and leaving school, but, this could be really good for me. And I’ll only be an hour away?”

“And we’ll keep in touch all the time. Swear it!” Laura had a deadly serious look on her face.

Laf held up her hands “I swear. I swear!”

“Good, I’m glad.”

Laura was on her way to class, feeling happy she had gotten her essay done. She still had work and the third looming bullet point on her to do list, but she had made progress with that. 

Laura’s phone buzzed and she was pulled out of her thoughts, it was a text from Danny, she smiled.

Danny 10:48: Hey! Sorry to bother you I know you have class, but I was thinking we could make some posters tonight advertising for a new roommate. Let me know!  
Laura tapped out a short response: Sounds good. Will be home from work at 6.

The lecture was over at 1, and Laura walked to work with her headphones in. Her shift at the Café Bean went pretty quickly, it was short and sweet. It was made easier as one of her co-workers, Betty, was working today and she was always really lovely. And surprisingly, no one messed up an order today, and that really was a miracle in itself.

Once the shift was over, Laura mentally crossed out ‘work’ from her to do list. She only had the last bullet point, which was most definitely the scariest. But she was thankful that Danny seemed to be helping her now. 

She walked in to Danny, Laf, Perry and Kirsch all on the floor of the living room with paper around them. 

Danny noticed her first and waved her over, she handed her a glass of wine, to which Laura looked confused.

“We’re definitely going to need it if we’re ever going to find a roommate. Plus, I think Perry kind of needs it.” She gestures over to where Perry is sitting, cross legged with her hands waving in the air to the beat of the music. Or, completely not to the beat of the music, actually.

Laura scoots off her shoes, and looks at the mess of papers scattered on the floor. She sees the word ‘roommate requirements’ dashed around, but that’s about it. Laura takes a long swig of wine, she’s definitely going to need it.

2 bottles of wine later and the words ‘hot, clean and no pets’ have been thrown around. But that’s it. They’re all at least tipsy at this point. Apart from Perry who was now practically screaming the lyrics to a pop song, and Laura who was leaning her head on a very comfy Danny.

“They don’t have to be hot!” Laura said.

“But if they are hot, that’s a bonus.” Kirsch drawls, red wine drooling down his lips to his chin. Danny agrees and Laura feels that sting. It shouldn’t but it does.

She takes this opportunity to start another piece of paper, again with ‘ROOMATE REQUIREMENTS’ scrawled on the top. She starts the list with:  
\- Must be clean  
\- Must pay rent to Danny at the start of EVERY month  
\- Must not be an asshole

Laura shows the paper to an approving Danny, who mouths the word ‘hot’ and for some reason, Laura scribbles it down begrudgingly.

With a few more ideas written down, the most notable from Perry who requires that they sing pop songs with her whenever she wants, they agree that it will have to do.

Tomorrow Laura says she will photocopy a few and leave them around school, in which Danny says she would also do. She scrawls her number on the bottom with the address and hopes someone will be in touch quickly. By this point it’s 11pm, they all have to be up early, and so they fumble to bed. Danny helps a tipsy Laura up the stairs, laughing as they go.   
When they reach Laura’s room, hands still entwined, Laura’s heart hurts a little that she has to let go. She doesn’t understand why it hurts, she was probably just lonely. But she indeed does let go, and goes to sleep feeling somewhat frustrated. Tomorrow, she thinks, she will wake up early to get these damn posters up, and finally get a roommate.

When tomorrow does come along, and Laura hears the same, annoying shrill of her alarm, she groans loudly. It’s 7 am and way too early for Laura, or any human for that. She showers, grabs some toast and makes it just on time to photocopy the poster and hang a few up before she just about makes it to class.

“Shouldn’t someone have replied by now?” Laura looks sadly at Danny

“You put them up this morning right? Its 6 now, if they don’t reply by this time tomorrow, then we have an issue to worry about. Only then.”

The night progresses with Danny cooking dinner, Laf and Perry dancing tipsy and Kirsch drinking a beer watching the madness. Laura keeps checking her phone for a missed call but decided to join in the fun instead. She makes herself a glass of red wine and looks at her friends: yep, she’s one lucky girl.

Perry is shouting a rendition of a Justin Bieber song so loudly and passionately, Laura was nearly wetting her pants as a result. She’s laughing so hard she can’t even breathe, and ends up collapsing on the floor. She thinks she could stay like this, in this moment for eternity, until Danny grabs her shoulder and hands with a ringing in the background.  
“Answer it, it’s your phone sweetie!” Danny has to practically scream to make Laura hear her, but she definitely hears the sweetie. It makes Laura feel good.

“Hello! This is Laura speaking.” She walks out of the room still a little weak from the laughing fit, and tries to listen.

“Well cutie, I didn’t think I was calling my mum.”

Laura flinched at the both playful and harsh tone. Who did this girl think she is?

“Excuse me?”

Laura hears a sigh at the other end. Followed by “Are you the girl looking for a ‘hot’ roommate? Or have I got the wrong number?”

It clicks with Laura and she straightens up. They really need a roommate quickly and she needs to make herself seem like a good roommate. “No no! This is the right number.”

“Good. I was worried.” Laura notices the sarcasm and it bites. This girl is not friendly at all. “So, when can I see the place?”

Laura fidgets she feels uneasy. Does she even want this girl as her roommate? She hasn’t exactly had many other calls. Okay no other calls. So she decides to see how this goes.  
“When do you want to see the place?”

“Hm. Now?”

That hits Laura with surprise. The place is a mess. They’re all drunk apart from Laura and Danny. This really isn’t a good time.

Laura hears the girl speaking again “Come on cutie, it’s just a room. All I want is to see the shower and make sure I have a window.”

“Okay.” Laura doesn’t even know why she said yes, or how to be more accurate. She takes a second and then continues. Not completely sure what to say next. “You’ve got the address right?” 

But then she realises the line is already dead. Shocked she pulls the phone from her ear, feeling even more uneasy she searches for her glass of wine. She downs it in one.  
Danny looks at her, “You okay? You’ve gone completely pale.”

“Yeah yeah of course.” She swats Danny away like a fly, but continues “a girl is coming to look at the room.”

Laf pops up “oh cool, when?”

Laura gulps, “now.”

“WHAT” the four say in unison. Laura looks guilty but just nods.

“She kind of forced it. I don’t know, but I do know that she’s coming. Now. And this place is a joke.”

They spend the next 10 minutes clearing the living room the best they can. Laf runs upstairs and tidies her room a little and Perry helps her. They all regroup on the sofa, sighing at the rest of the mess. 

“We’ve done our best.” Danny tries light-heartedly

“Suppose.” Laura says.

They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, until three loud rasps come from the door. Laura gulps and gets up.

Kirsch sends some support in the form of “hey, she might be hot!” to which Laura smiles meekly. 

The conversation they had had really put her on edge. She wasn’t sure how she felt. She sighed, there was no use now, so instead she straightened her shirt instead, and opened the door.

“Hi cutie, am I hot enough to be your roommate?”

Laura is blown away. Raven hair falling haphazardly down a leather jacket, followed by leather pants and black combat boots. The voice. The smell. Yes, yes she definitely was hot enough to be her roommate.


	2. Unknown Number

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The raven haired woman is at Laura's door. She has no choice but to let her in, and show her around. Laura is both more intimidated but intrigued than she had ever been. Who was this girl? Where was she from? And why did Laura care?

Laura was speechless for a couple of seconds. She flinched at the “hi cutie, am I hot enough to be your roommate?” but it wasn’t completely because of the other girls confidence, the girl was completely, unabashedly beautiful, and she knew it too. Laura was shaken back to reality when the raven haired woman spoke again.

“Sorry, what did you say?” was all Laura could muster. She was making herself look completely pathetic. 

The girl smirked, “I said are you going to let me in? Or leave me in the cold all night?”

Laura couldn’t trust herself to speak again so she flung the door open and gestured for the girl to come in. As she did, she looked over to where Danny, Kirsch, Laf and Perry were sitting. The second the other girl was inside, their eyes shot away. This only made the girl smirk more.

“So, which way cutie?” the girl was standing in front of Laura just before the stairs, with a constant smug look on her face and her body exuding confidence. Her left hand was in the back pocket of her leather pants and the right was holding onto the bannister of the stairs, almost as if she knew exactly where to go without being told.

“Just upstairs, the second door on the right.” Laura gulped and shot one last look to the group in the living room. She took a shaky breath and led the way.

They walked in silence, and there was an air of anticipation. Laura was both completely intimidated by this girl, but also curious. She didn’t know anyone who could pull double leather off this well, and that in itself was interesting to Laura. They stopped at the top of the stairs. Laura was waiting for the girl to catch up, and she was almost convinced the girl had been checking her out, but decided against it. “So, this on the right is my room-“

“Show me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I think you heard me well enough, cupcake.”

Laura didn’t want to say no. Frankly, she wasn’t sure if she was intimidated or turned on. She had never been bossed around like this before. The only girl she could ever think about relationship wise was Danny, but that was different. That was easy. They were just really good friends, and feelings got mixed up sometimes. At least that’s what Laura told herself. Danny was nice, and this girl… was not so nice. She decided she’d bargain if she was going to open the door. Learn a little about the girl. 

“I’ll open the door if-“

“There’s an if?” the girl raised her eyebrows, “go on, I’m listening.”

“Well I was about to finish, but then you interrupted.”

“Ouch, you’ve got bite Laura. I like that.”

Laura blushed. She took this as a compliment, even though she probably shouldn’t have. “I’ll open the door if you tell me your name, and why you want to live here.”

“My name’s Carmilla. Don’t even try to shorten it. Carmilla- or nothing. And I think that’s enough sharing. One for one. Open the door cutie.”

Carmilla had a nice ring to it. Laura didn’t know why, but she figured that her appearance matched the name pretty well. Laura obliged and opened the door.

Carmilla stepped in and took in the surroundings. Everything was so neat. The bed was made, there were no clothes lying around, the desk only had a couple of papers on it. Carmilla was impressed. 

“Ah, I spot a window. Nice room. You sure do keep everything…tightly wound don’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Carmilla grazed her hand against Laura’s as she stepped towards the door, and Laura felt a shiver from the top of her neck to the bottom of her spine. “Where’s my room?”

“This way.”

Laura led her to the room directly next to hers, and showed her the inside. It was filled with chemistry books and pieces of paper everywhere, she was pretty sure she spotted some underwear on the floor but didn’t say anything, hoping Carmilla wouldn’t notice.

“So… what do you think?”

Carmilla turned to Laura, one hand in her leather jacket, she looked Laura up and down. “What do I think cupcake? I don’t think that’s my place to say. And the room’s nice too.”  
Laura’s cheeks went bright red and she couldn’t hide it. She sunk her head slightly and focused on the ground. “Rent is paid to Danny, we’ll make a spare key for you annnnnnnd, I think that’s it really. If you want to stay here that is.”

“Oh I think I’ll like it here. Something tells me I’ll definitely like it here.”

Laura practically shouted her response “Good! Well, shall we go downstairs and introduce you to the others?”

“I suppose so.” Carmilla lingered, not really wanting to leave the room. This girl fascinated her. She was definitely tightly wound, and Carmilla wanted to-

Laura couldn’t take the way the girl was looking her up and down like meat. She thought she actually saw her lick her lips at once point and decided the blushing on her face might subside if she was around the others. “Right let’s go!”

Danny was leading the conversation well, and Laura was extremely glad. Laf and Perry were sitting on the sofa together cuddling into each other, Kirsch was at the dining table with a beer, and Laura was sitting on the other end of the sofa. It was only Carmilla that was sitting on the floor, cross legged. 

“So Carmilla, where did you grow up?”

“Next question. I’d rather not talk about that.”

Kirsch popped up then, “why don’t we play never have I ever? That’s a good way to get to know each other.”

“Because we’re not 5 Kirsch.” Laura snapped.

“No I like it. But we’re going to need booze. I’m not doing this sober.” Carmilla agreed. 

Danny jumped up then and brought out a bottle of wine and whisky, and everyone chose wine. Apart from Carmilla. Carmilla decided to take control, but as she asked the question she kept a close eye on Laura.

“I’ll start. Never have I ever… got so drunk I blacked out.”

They all drunk apart from Danny. Laura looked a little ashamed when she raised her glass, but still caught the wink from Carmilla.

“Laura your go.”

“What? Why me? I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“I’m the guest. Go, shoot.”

Laura groaned loudly. “Okay, but I’m kind of awful at these games.”

Danny put her arm around Laura then and whispered “you’re great at everything, Laura.”

Laura pretended that she hadn’t heard that but blushed slightly. Kirsch was getting visibly impatient so Laura hurried herself.

“Okay okay, never have I ever… stayed up until 5 am watching movies…”

Carmilla started laughing then, and so did the others. “Wow, real crazy cupcake.”

Danny rubbed Laura’s shoulder and said “you’re so cute.”

“Fine. Scrap that one.” Laura moved herself so Danny was no longer touching her, she crossed her legs and thought hard. “Never have I ever… ran away from home.”

Carmilla was the only one to drink. Laura suddenly felt ashamed that she took the game in that direction. She barely knew this girl and she must have made her feel uncomfortable.

“Woah Laura, that was kind of deep.” Laf said, and Perry nodded in agreement.

Carmilla waved her hand “It doesn’t matter. Honestly cupcake it’s okay. Get that guilty look off your face.”

Kirsch piped up “how about we drink and watch a movie?”

They all agreed. Laura offered Carmilla a seat next to her on the sofa but she waved her hand as if to say no. That stung a little. Instead she cuddled into Danny when the movie got under way. Kirsch’s new game was to drink every time a hot girl was on screen. So this meant for most of the movie, according to Kirsch. Every so often Laura would chance a glance at Carmilla, to find her either staring straight at her, or at the bottom of her glass when she was finishing it off. Laura blushed either way. 

When the movie was over, Carmilla got up and gestured that she was leaving. This made Laura a little sad and she didn’t know why. There was so much more she wanted to learn about her.

Laura hurried down the hallway to catch Carmilla putting on her combat boots. “So, how about the room? Do you like it?”

“I do.”

“Do you want it?”

“I think you should ask your roommates first. If they want me, that is. Because that’s the real question. I’m a piece of work. I come home late, I’ll drink all your alcohol and I sleep most the day. Do you really want that?”

Laura considered for a second. She thought Carmilla was being hard on herself. But then again, this girl’s sarcasm and bite was something else. She was probably capable of a lot more. 

“It’s probably a good thing I ask them.” Laura felt guilty for saying it, but it was true. Laura rubbed her hands together nervously and gulped. She couldn’t believe she was about to say this. “Hey one more thing.”

Carmilla finished tying the laces to her boots and walked over to the door. She put her hand on the door handle and turned around. “Yeah, cutie?”

“I don’t have your number. You know, in case I need to text you or something.”

Carmilla smirked. “I’ve got yours cupcake, and that’s enough.” Carmilla opened the door and was gone.

Laura didn’t know what to think. The night had been kind of a blur. She was tipsy, but could still recognise that tonight had been completely bizarre. Did… was… had she been flirting with her? Laura shook her head, why would a girl like Carmilla flirt with Laura Hollis.

“Hey.” Danny interrupted, putting an arm on her shoulder, “Do you want another glass of wine?”

Laura considered it, but decided it against it. Feigning that she was tired she went up to bed feeling slightly guilty about the disappointed look on Danny’s face. She needed to lie down after tonight.

Laura had a quick shower, got into her pyjamas, and laid in bed staring at the ceiling. Who was this girl? Where had she come from? Laura hadn’t seen her at university before. Did she even go there? Or had she picked the poster up from her work? She had endless questions about this girl and wish that she had longer with her. But alone, without Danny’s cautious, looming eyes over them the whole time. Laura, frustrated decided it was time to sleep. She went to set her alarm but realised the phone wasn’t anywhere to be found. Even more frustrated, she groaned and got out of bed. She found it downstairs underneath a pillow, it had probably fallen out when she cuddled into Danny. She noticed the lack of Danny in the living room, hadn’t she wanted another glass of wine? 

When Laura was back in bed, she went to put an alarm on. She saw a text from an unknown number. Her heart jumped.

Unknown number 12:04: that was an interesting night cupcake.

It was her. It was Carmilla. It was sent 40 minutes ago, which must have been minutes after she left. Had she really wanted to talk to her even when she had just left? She quickly added her to her contacts and mulled over what to reply. She tapped out different responses but couldn’t find the right one. She settled on:

Laura 12:08: It was. Glad you seemed to have a nice time. I think. Also sorry about the runaway thing. I won’t bring it up next time, promise.

Carmilla 12:09: Oh, so there’s a next time? ;)

Laura’s face went unbelievably red, even in the dark she knew it had. This girl’s confidence and wit was astounding. 

Laura 12:10: Only if you want to. I didn’t mean it like that… no pressure or anything!

Carmilla 12:11: goodness you are tightly wound, aren’t you.

Laura bit her lip.

Laura 12:12: is that a bad thing?

Laura had to wait 7 minutes for a reply and this put her on edge. Had she said the wrong thing?

Carmilla 12:19: definitely not. You intrigue me Laura…?

Laura 12:12: Hollis. Laura Hollis. What’s your last name?

Carmilla 12:15: Laura Hollis. That has a nice ring to it. I can’t tell you everything about me, can I, I have to keep some of my mystery. And on that note, Miss Hollis, I am going to sleep, some of us have a busy day tomorrow.

Laura didn’t know what to reply so she settled with a ‘goodnight Carmilla’ and spent much of the night thinking about Carmilla. She wasn’t sure why, but she got the feeling Carmilla had told her she was going to sleep was on purpose. She went to bed very, very frustrated that night.


End file.
